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or sons, to keep the dynasty a live. Cerla in it is tha t from
that day on, the throne never again has existed in Judah,
in J erusalem, or among the J ews!
What About Jeconlah?
It is true that a former king of Judah was at that time in
the dungeons of Babylon-and he had sons to continue
Da vid's line. Former King Jeconiah (J ehoiachin), la ken to
Babylon in c hains, was restored to honor
37
years after the
captivity (see 11 Kings
25:27-30).
He was even given the
til le "king" along with numerous other captive, vassal
" kings."
One of J econiah's sons was Salathiel, who was the
father of Zorobabel, the son of royal seed through
whom Jesus Christ Himself traced His royal a ncestry
back to David! (Matt. 1: 12.) And Zorobabel-or Zerub–
babel-was the man God caused Cyrus, king of Persia,
to make a decree giving him tbe
governorship- not
the
crown of a king-to return to J erusa lem and rebui ld the
House of God, the Temple,
seventy
years after tbe cap–
tivity.
Yet neither J econiah nor any of hi s sons or g ra nds0ns
reigned as king in Judah. Why?
If
there was a descendant of the line of David who Ji ved
through the captivity, why wasn't he reslored to the
throne when he was retu rned to Jerusalem?
Why?
Simply
because God would not permit it!
It
is God wbo makes kings- and
unmakes
them! God
was determined to remove thc crown of David from the
ruling line of Pharez a nd place it on the head of a son of
In this end time, when knowledge is to
increase, when the "wise" are to
understand (Dan. 12:4, JO), we shall
find the secret revealed.
Za rah . Yet a royalline straight from David had to remain
in the area so the Christ could be born of David 's seed yet
hundreds of years in the futu re. And God also had to keep
His promise to David that he, David, would never lack a
descendant to sit on the throne! Many intricate and fasci–
nating prophecies had to be carried out-sorne seemingly
contradictory- a difficult job to perform, an awesome
commission from God to J eremia h!
"As 1 live, saith the Lord, though Conia b [Jeconiah]
the son of J ehoiakim king of J udah were the signet upon
my right hand , yet would 1 pluck thee thence!" (J er.
22:24.)
God had determined a n end for this linc of kings .
He was removing the
crown- nol
permitting J econiah's
sons to reign on Judah's throne! God was lurning over
(overturning)
the throne to another branch of Juda h's
family.
16
God told J eremiah forcefully, "Thus saith the Lord,
Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper
in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, SJTTJ NG
UPON THE THRONE OF DAVID, ANO RULING ANY MORE IN
J UOAH" ! (J er.
22:30.)
God spoke! J eremiah wrote! H istory was designed and
done as God said! J econiah had children-God H imself
caused this fact to be reco rded (see 1 Chron.
3:17;
Mat t.
1:12), but as far as tbe THRONE OF DAVID was concerned
HE WAS CHILDLESS- none of bis chi ldren ever occupied
that throne!
T he crown had now been removed from the
Pharez fine,
uprooted from Juda h, any immediate candidates lo the
throne killed, and Jeconiah incarceraled in a Babylonian
prison, written childless as far as the throne was con–
cerned by the command of God Almighty!
J eremiah had now accomplished the
firsr
part of his
great commission. The throne had been rooted out, the
kingdom torn completely down. J udah was now beginning
HER national punishment.
Where Dld Jeremlah Go?
But what about the
second
part of Jeremiah's important
commission?
Jeremiah was among these captive Jews. He must be
free to carry out the second part of his commission.
So, "Nebuchadnezzar king of Ba bylon gave charge
concerning J eremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard, saying, Ta ke him, a nd look well to him, a nd do
him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto
tbee" (Jer.
39:11-12).
"And the captain of the guard
took J eremiah, and said unto him.... behold, I loase
thee this day from the cha ins which were upon thine
hand. lf it seem good unto thee to come with me into
Babylon, come; and
r
will look well unto thee: but if it
seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, for–
bear; behold, all the land is befare thee: whither it seem–
eth good and convenient for thee to go, thithe r go.. ..
So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a re–
ward [money]. and Jet him go" (J er.
40:2-5).
So J eremiah was left absolutely free lo do as he pleased,
supplied even with expense money, and given complete
freedom, so that he might perform the second half of his
mission. Where did he go?
We come now toan amazing, fascinating, thrilling part
of the book of J eremiah which has been almost entirely
overlooked. "Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son
of Ahikam to
Mizpah;
a nd dwelt with him among the
people that were left in the land" (verse 6).
Now this Gedaliah had been made governor over a rem–
nant of Jews in the land by the king of Babylon, and since
Jerusalem was dest royed, he had made Mizpah his head–
_quarters. But the king of Ammon plotted with a Jew
named lshmael to assassinate Gedalia h. T he plot was ex–
ecuted; the governor and part of thc J ews were slain. J er–
emiah was among the survivors.
The PLAIN TRUTH February 1979
.
J